The Definitive Guide To Business Cards in Korea Edition

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The Definitive Guide to
Korean Consulting & Translation Service, Inc.

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Business Cards in Korea

Everything You Need to Know About: Business Cards Are Important in Korea Why Business Etiquette on How to Exchange Them to Translate and Design Them, and How to Get Them Printed both Inside and Outside Korea How
2011 EDITION!
By Steven S. Bammel, President

Tel: +1 (972) 255-4808 Fax: +1 (214) 853-5374 Email: sbammel@koreanconsulting.com Website: www.koreanconsulting.com
GyeongGi Province FDI Advisor
Global Inspiration
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Korea Business Central

An Online Community Focused on Doing Business in Korea
GAFIC Advisor Korea FTA Industry Association, Committee Member
Succeed in Business in Korea by Networking and Learning

TABLE OF CONTENTS [I] INTRODUCTION [II] AN AMAZING TESTIMONIAL! [III] KOREAN BUSINESS CARD ETIQUETTE Greetings and Introductions Korean Names and Job Titles Business Card Exchanges Even Koreans Need to Learn about Business Card Etiquette! [IV] TRANSLATING BUSINESS CARDS TO KOREAN Personal Names Job Titles Professional Designations Company Names Company Forms Addresses Phone/Fax/Email Logos, Slogans and Tag Lines [V] KOREAN BUSINESS CARD DESIGN CONSIDERATIONS [VI] GETTING KOREAN BUSINESS CARDS PRINTED Easy Option - Have Us Prepare Your Korean Business Cards Do-It-Yourself Option - Prepare Your Own Korean Business Cards [VII] IT NEVER HURTS TO GET A LITTLE CREATIVE 3 4 5 5 6 7 8 9 9 10 15 16 17 18 19 10 21 22 22 22 29

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The Definitive Guide to BUSINESS CARDS IN KOREA
[I] INTRODUCTION
Hello, Some Westerners doing business in Korea believe they adequately understand the nature of hierarchy within Korean business culture. Others merely have a vague idea that a well-developed business hierarchy exists. But few understand the depth and importance of this concept within the Korean business world. JOB POSITION IS THE BASIS FOR BUSINESS INTERACTIONS The primary reason business cards are so important in Korean business is that they communicate the position of each person within this business hierarchy. Rank is built into the social fabric of Korean society, and you cannot ignore this important fact if you expect to successfully promote business here. Though rank in Korea can be based on many things, in business it starts with job position. HIERARCHY IS EVEN BUILT INTO THE KOREAN LANGUAGE Probably one of the hardest areas of language for foreigners to grasp when learning Korean is the various ways in which Korean requires the speaker and listener to understand and express how various players fit into the social hierarchy. This is far more complex in Korean than the tu/usted concept of Spanish; Korean speakers must be aware of and reflect the relative positions of the speaker, listener and 3rd persons being spoken about at all times. Indeed, there is no neutral way to communicate in Korean and you cannot properly utter even simple sentences or greetings without the implication of respect or disrespect. BUSINESS CARDS ARE A MUST Therefore, if you are living in Korea or visiting Korea on business, you will soon find that business cards are essential. I'm not going to tell you that your English-only business cards won't work (in fact, they're better in Korea than your Chinese/English or Japanese/English cards), but Korean/English business cards will demonstrate to your potential Korean partners that you are serious, and that you understand and respect their culture. This small effort on your part establishes trust and maximizes your opportunity for excellent results. Therefore, I strongly recommend that you carry double-sided English/Korean business cards with you on business in Korea and with Koreans anywhere. This guide will explain the ins-and-outs of Korean business cards and provide step-bystep instructions on how you can prepare them yourself with a little help from a Korean acquaintance. Korean business cards are how you take business seriously in Korea!
Contact me... Please feel free to contact me personally with any questions you might have about the many ways that Korean Consulting and Translation Service, Inc. can help you succeed in business in Korea. My preferred method of communication is email to sbammel@koreanconsulting.com
Special thanks... I'd like to express a special thanks to Peter Underwood of IRC for his detailed feedback and suggestions on the first edition. In fact, you can check out his interview at the following link on KoreaBusinessCentral.com about doing business in Korea: http://www.koreabusinesscentral. com/forum/topics/korea-businesscentral-4
Steven S. Bammel President/Translator and Business Consultant Korean Consulting & Translation Service, Inc.
PS: I hope you find this information useful. Once you've had a chance to review the materials, please visit our discussion at Korea Business Central (http://www.koreabusinesscentral.com/forum/topics/the-definitive-guide-to) and share your feedback, questions and ideas. I am eager to hear back from and discuss with readers so that the next edition of this eBook will be even better than this first one!
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[I] INTRODUCTION
[II] AN AMAZING TESTIMONIAL

A LITTLE EFFORT AND A GREAT ATTITUDE GO A LONG WAY! I received the following testimonial from a client who bought Japanese business cards from me before heading to Japan on business. Because the value of business cards is similar in both Korea and Japan, and since Chuck's experience exemplifies so many important aspects of doing business in Korea (and Japan), I've included his testimonial here, with his permission.
From: Chuck Curlin Sent: Tuesday, November 25, 2008 9:08 PM To: Steven S. Bammel Subject: RE: Follow up on Message Sent Last Night Steven, I neglected to get back with you after returning from Japan. apologies.
My
The trip was great and our hosts could not have been more gracious. It was a wonderful experience to be in another industrialized country and see how they do things. The cities were awesome to behold and the bullet train was a sheer joy to ride on. The Japanese people, everywhere I went were wonderful. I was one of ten guests, architects and engineers, who were invited by Mitsubishi to tour their manufacturing facilities and some installations that highlighted their products. The group was made of individuals from across the USA. Two were from a very large Architectural & Engineering (AE) firm in NYC, another two were from another national AE firm in Oklahoma, and another one was from a very large AE firm in the Pacific NW. I was from the smallest firm in the group. However, I was the only one who had done research on Japanese culture, had tried to learn some of the language, and had come with gifts for our hosts. It was fun in that regard Trumping the New Yorkers. The gifts I gave (all Panthers NFL items) were very much appreciated and so were the business cards printed in Japanese. There was an obvious difference in their reaction when they accepted one of my cards. Eyebrows raised, a look of excited happiness, and often the words, In Japanese!. This was somewhat to the chagrin of my colleagues who themselves were impressed. One of the gifts I gave was a football, to one of the plant managers in Wakayama. Contrary to what I had read, he opened it while we were still there, (although not in my direct sight), and came looking for me to toss it. I recently received a photo of his young son holding the football. I invited him to come to Charlotte and see a game if he was to ever make it over here, and as luck would have it, he will be coming next week (the US headquarters for Mitsubishi Electric are in Georgia) and staying long enough to come to the Monday night Football game on December 8th. Thanks again for the great service you provided. If ever the need should once more arise for me or someone I know, I will be sure to give you a call. Have a wonderful Thanksgiving. Chuck Charlie D. (Chuck) Curlin, Jr., P.E., C.P.D. Member - ASHRAE, ASPE Senior Vice President David Shultz Associates, P.C. 212 N. McDowell St., Ste. 204 (28204) P.O. Box 37008, Charlotte, NC 28237 Website: www.dnshultz.com

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[II] AN AMAZING TESTIMONIAL!
[III] KOREAN BUSINESS CARD ETIQUETTE

The following tips about Korean greetings, names and business card exchanges come from our 7-Day Korea Business Etiquette eCourse. Visit http://www.koreanconsulting.com/etiquette_course.php to sign up for free!
Greetings and Introductions

It is important to greet a Korean in the right way. While foreigners are given some leeway, your effort to greet and introduce yourself and others properly will be greatly appreciated in Korea. Also, while it can be hard for some to accept the sexism implied in the following Korean business etiquette guidelines, the information here nevertheless reflects the reality that still exists in Korean business today. 1. When meeting a man, it is customary to greet with a handshake. You may also combine the handshake with a bow. Foreign women will be expected to greet with a handshake, too. Business cards are commonly exchanged together with the handshake. 2. Though you won't necessarily be expected to shake hands with the low-ranking Korean women in the group, you should make it a point to shake hands with all the men. 3. Korean men and women seldom shake hands and instead greet each other with a quick bow. However, in the unlikely event that you meet a woman with a high company rank, you may interact with her similarly to the men. 4. As a general rule, the higher the rank of the person you are greeting, the deeper you should bow. However, this is not expected from foreigners and may be left out if the whole idea of bowing makes you uncomfortable. 5. Introduce the people of your entourage beginning with the persons of highest rank. In general, the party leader should take charge of the introduction process.

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Korean Names and Job Titles

When you meet Koreans on business, the first thing to get through is the introduction. Be careful to make a good first impression! Korean business society is very hierarchical and male-dominated. While there are exceptions, you can generally assume that the oldest man in the group is running the show.
1. Korean first and last names are reversed from the Western system. While Koreans will often switch the order of their names in English to help foreigners, this can merely make the situation more confusing. A Korean whose name is Jin-Ho Park in English, would say his name as Park Jin-Ho in Korean. You can clarify by asking your counterpart what his "given" and "family" names are, with these corresponding to "first" and "last" names respectively in the Western sequence. You should almost never address a Korean by his given name; therefore, getting his/her family name is important. 2. Addressing someone with "Mr." in a business setting indicates that his rank is very low. Therefore, you should try to get his job title and then address him by his job position/title and last name. (e.g. General Manager Lee, President Kim). If a low ranking employee, you can go with "Miss" and "Mr." (e.g. Miss Hong, Mr. Park.) Some common job positions are quite long (e.g. Deputy General Manager, Senior Managing Director). You should pronounce them in full even if it takes a mouthful. This will show that you've taken the time to be precise with this matter and are not careless in your regard for the company hierarchy. 3. At least 70% of the Korean population has one of the top seven surnames (which are, in order from most common: Lee, Kim, Park, Jeong, Yoon, Choi, Yoo) so it is not unlikely that more than one person in your group of counterparts will have the same surname or even the same last name with the same job title. When two Koreans have the same surname, they may distinguish each other by their initials. In that case, they will insert their initials before their last name. (e.g. Manager C. J. Lee and Manager P. K. Lee.) While this is common practice, it can also cause problems since local staff won't always recognize who "CJ Lee" or "PK Lee" is if you call in by phone later and ask for them this way. 4. Normally, you should never speak to a Korean in a business setting using his Korean first name but if he introduces himself with a Western first name nickname, you may use that freely and without attaching his job title or last name. It is highly unlikely that he'll ask you to call him by his Korean first name unless he's really trying to do things the "American" way. 5. In spite of the fact that Koreans know that Westerner's have their given name first and family name second, you may find they get confused and address you incorrectly (e.g. Mr. Steven, President Bob). You can choose whether to correct them or go with this. If they don't know your title, you may also be addressed with the suffix "-shi". (e.g. Steven-shi, Jenny-Shi). In Korean business society, this is only used for low-ranking people; it seems to be more acceptable to address foreigners this way and is not necessarily a term of disrespect. 6. All of the above information is easily accessible from your counterpart's business card. Since the early establishment of rank is so important in Korean introductions, this is the reason that business cards are exchanged almost at the outset of meeting someone. Your counterpart's business card will almost certainly have an English side. By referring to that, you can get his job position and name. 7. Self-employed Koreans will often make up titles that don't exactly describe their job. A president of a one-man operation who used to work in a larger company as a general manager, may ask you to call him by his previous title (e.g. General Manager Lee). He might even make something up entirely, such as Office Manager Kim, when he's really the president of his own company. 8. Korean job titles often experience "upward drift" when translated to English. The English translations given later in this ebook for various company job positions are correct and generally accepted as such. However, Koreans often "promote" themselves when translating their cards to English, which is a nice way of saying that their English job titles are not always correct. For example, I've seen "Managers" pass themselves off as "Directors". And "Senior Managing Directors" occasionally put "Vice President" on their English card. If you really want to know what a Korean's job title is, try comparing the job title written in Korean with the job positions listed below. 9. Korean adults almost never (with the emphasis on "never") address each other by their first names only, even among close friends. Indeed, in friendly relationship (as opposed to business relationships), people "lose" their names when they have kids. They are then addressed in relation to their children. (e.g. Min-Ju's mom, or Kyeong-Jin's dad). 10. All this name calling can get very confusing - even for a Korean. Feel free to ask your counterpart how he wants to be addressed. You don't need to figure it all out intuitively.

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Business Card Exchanges

Exchanging business cards is part of the introduction process. Be ready with the following useful tips! 1. Cards are exchanged at the beginning of a meeting; make sure you have enough available for everyone. 2. It is best to stand up when exchanging cards with those of higher rank. 3. Facing your counterpart, bow slightly and hand your card (with the Korean-language side pointing up!) either with your right hand or both hands. The same rule applies when receiving a card from someone else. If the two of you are of similar rank, you may find yourself giving your business card at the same time as the other person is giving you his. In this case, give with the right hand and receive with the left. 4. Take time to review your counterpart's card carefully. You might want to speak his/her name and position to be sure of correct pronunciation. If the meaning of his/her job position is in any way unclear, it would not hurt to ask for an explanation. Basically, you want to show interest in and respect to the other party. 5. DO NOT shove the card into your back trouser pocket!! If you are meeting in passing, then you may just carefully place the card in a shirt pocket or in a wallet or notebook. If you are seated at a meeting, place the card gently on the table in front of you. Look at it often during the meeting in order to refer correctly to your counterpart's name and position. If you are meeting more than one person and have received multiple cards, arrange them neatly in front of you. 6. Koreans hand out their business card at the drop of a hat. Don't be left out! Give your card to anyone that you'd like to hear from again. You'll likely go through a lot more cards during your trip to Korea than you would back home. 7. Don't scribble notes on business cards as it does not show respect to your counterpart. You may however write additional contact information on the card if provided. 8. If you've already exchanged business cards with a Korean before, don't give them your card again the next time you meet, unless your card has been updated and you explain that this is the reason for giving a second card. Trying to give your card to someone again indicates you forgot that you met them before (likely the case, if you're not careful!) and this is a slight you'd do best to avoid.

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Even Koreans Need to Learn about Business Card Etiquette!

The Joongang Daily, one of the top newspapers in Korea, published the following article on February 25, 2009 about how to give and receive business cards, with special emphasis on the showing of respect for the other person. (Can you imagine a US newspaper having so much to say on this subject!?)
When in the Presence of an Elder, Offer Your Business Card First

> just put a business card Don't
into your wallet immediately after receiving it. Instead, keep it on the table until the end of your meeting. This is regarded as an expression of respect to the other person.
> A business card wallet should
battle without a weapon. But if you make sure to have left spare weapons all around in various places, you'll always be ready for a meeting.
> a business card which Place
be used only for carrying around your own business cards. This means that you should properly organize and put away the cards you have received from others each day.
> When doing business with
you have just received in the front of your wallet. Putting other cards (perhaps even your own!) in the back tells your counterpart, I'll be able to find your name later if I need it.
> When receiving a business
foreigners, you should take measures to prepare separate business cards in the respective languages of your counterparts. When it isn't possible to go this far, it would still be polite to at least present cards in a language that your counterparts can easily understand (for example, English) and to hand the business card to them with this language facing upward.
>sure to keep plenty of Be
card, be sure to at least comment briefly about the logo or design of the card. This shows that you have looked carefully at the other person's business card.
> other person is your If the
business cards around, such as in your briefcase, in your car or in your schedule book. Not having a business card onhand during an important meeting is like going into
elder or someone of high rank, it is polite to offer your business card first. Hand your business card to the other person and then receive the business card of the other person in return. It would be discourteous to give your card with one hand at the same time that you receive the other person's card with your other hand [if there is a significant rank difference between you].

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[IV] TRANSLATING BUSINESS CARDS TO KOREAN

The following list of best practice approaches to translating each of the elements of a business card to Korean should not be regarded as the ONLY way. There is no standard method and so feel free to customize your translation and design to your situation.
Personal Names
Transliterate your name phonetically into Korean characters in the order of your first name, middle name (if you use a middle name) and last name. Koreans know (or at least, should know) that Western names are sequenced backward to the Asian order and if you try to turn your name around to match the Korean name order, it will only make things more confusing. If a recipient of your card is having trouble figuring out which is your first name and which is your last name, then you can tell him or her. If you use a middle initial, leave it in English or drop it out completely. Another approach is to write out the pronunciation of the middle initial letter in Korean, but I don't think this looks as good as leaving the initial in English. Punctuation between names is the same for English and Korean. Note that when localizing English names into Japanese and Chinese, it is pretty common to put a centered dot between names, instead of a space. But this is not the best approach for Korean cards. Example
English Bill W. Stacy Korean (Preferred) W. OR Korean (OK, but Not Preferred) .
Watch The Colors! Never write names in red font. Not the names of people, their job titles or their company name. Never, ever... without exception... It's the color used for writing the names of the dead and is considered unlucky (to put it mildly).

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Job Titles
Job titles can be the hardest part of translating a business card. This is because 1) getting the title right is very important and 2) titles don't always transfer one-for-one between languages, especially in the case of Western companies that have moved to a flat organizational structure. The goal in translating the job title is to ensure that the recipients of your business card see you to be at the same place and level in your company's hierarchy as you want them to see you. In some cases, this is not hard; but certain job titles are particularly problematic, as explained below. Likewise, there are plenty of cases where the purpose of a business trip to Korea is specialized enough that you may want to customize your job title for the trip. For example, a Vice President of the company may want to go as a Director of Marketing to be in line with the trip's objectives. Keep in mind though that your Korean counterparts will form their impression of you based on both the English and Korean sides of the card, so the two should be in agreement, or kept strategically vague. One more point to remember is that you should not put on the end of a job title on a business card. This is an honorific suffix for a name/job title when speaking of or to someone else, but it is not part of the job title and should not be included in the job title on your business card.
Here's What Koreans Do Sometimes! Another point to keep in mind with business cards of Koreans is that of dual job titles, which is where a Korean of certain rank in Korean will present themselves with an English job title which is clearly higher than what they really are in Korean. I've seen many such cases, such as where a Korean General Manager becomes a Director in English.
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COMPANY TITLES The following fifteen positions shown in blue are the standard positions within the hierarchy of large Korean conglomerates (commonly called chaebol). Since the chaebol lead the Korean business world, the same general hierarchy is followed in smaller companies, too, though some positions are left out if a particular company is not large enough to fill all of these levels.
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Chairman Vice-Chairman
"Chairman" refers to the head of a group of companies, not just one company.
President Vice President Senior Vice-President Executive Senior Managing Director Senior Managing Director Managing Director Director
Director is one of the hardest job titles to translate on a business card. The translation provided above refers to the lowest top-management position in the standard Korean hierarchy; right below it would be the top level of middle management. In fact, the Director position functions as the link between topmanagement and the rest of the company as the director is in constant contact with those above and under him, but once he promotes to managing director and beyond, he is no longer in day-to-day contact with the rank-and-file. This same translation () can also refer to a member of the board of directors. However, in Western companies, the director position is a much more flexible term and often refers to the person overseeing a department or business unit, or even the head of an organization. In some cases, the above title can work, but in other cases, it is better rendered as or (the latter translated below as General Manager). If translating Director to show responsibility for a department or team, it is best to indicate the unit. Thus Director, Sales Division would be or just or Director of the Purchasing Team might be translated as (which is actually more like Purchasing Team Leader, see explanation below regarding Team Leader).

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Occasionally, the director title doesn't even clearly fit an existing Korean job position, or if it does, the connotation of rank in the organization is misleading. In such cases, just transliterating the word director phonetically as at least comes without baggage and can give the card holder an opportunity to explain his or her role without pre-biasing card recipients in advance. This discussion doesn't even get into the translation of Director in nonbusiness settings (such as the arts and education), where the range of possible translations is even wider. Needless to say, if you are translating Director for your business card, make sure to talk it out in detail with a Korean associate before settling on a final translation. General Manager Deputy General Manager Manager Assistant Manager
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Manager is another job title that is tricky to translate correctly and actually comes with four different iterations in Korean, as shown above. The translation for general manager means the head of a department and those under the general manager include the deputy general manager, manager, assistant manager and employee positions. But these other four positions indicate grades of rank only; they often do not mean that the lower ranks are reporting to anyone other than the general manager. In fact, this is a good opportunity to explain that Korean companies aren't as layer-heavy as they appear since everyone under the general manager is reporting directly to him/her and not to any of the others, which, if it were the case, would indeed make for a lot of layers! This is also similar at the top of the corporation where the vice-president, executive senior managing director, senior managing director and managing director generally all report directly to the president. Employee
This is the job title for an entry-level employee of no rank at all. If you are translating a business card for someone without rank, it is often better to come up with something better, such as Consultant, Salesperson, Secretary, etc.

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Representative of the company
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This is actually a very good translation for President in many cases, particularly with one-person companies, but really in just about any situation where communicating that one is the head honcho is more important than linking oneself into an organizational hierarchy. It's hard to explain why exactly, but in a small company, this title carries more weight than the literal translation for president, mentioned above. In fact, this is the way I translate my job title into Korean even though the English version of my job title says President.
Representative Director
Many Korean business cards come with this job title in English and Korean, but it reflects a unique aspect of corporate governance in Korea; Western companies do not have a Representative Director position and business cards for Western companies should not have this job title. To explain, the Representative Director in a Korean context, is the legal representative of the company; he is the one who goes to jail of the company does something wrong. He is not necessarily the most senior and the Chairman (who is ordinarily the most senior) is often not the Representative Director. This is the closest to the European Managing Director, which is normally a lesser rank in Korean.
Chief Executive Officer Chief Operating Officer Chief Financial Officer Chief Marketing Officer Chief Technology Officer
Korean companies do not generally have official C-level titles, but of course, top-level managers fill these roles and so the English versions of business cards of Korean executives will often include these. A good way to handle a C-level job position on a business card is to use it alongside one of the executive positions shown above in the standard Korean hierarchy. The C-level title will communicate area of responsibility, while the standard Korean title will indicate rank.
Branch Head Office Head Team Leader
The Team Leader or Team Head position has become popular over the last 10-12 years as Korean companies have started to dabble in cross-functional teams. This position is not fixed into the traditional Korean company hierarchy and gets a good deal of respect. If your rank in your company is relatively low but you manage projects and people, then adding Team Leader to your business card in both English and Korean (along with your regular job position) is a great way to give your job title a boost.
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Founder Co-Founder Owner Co-Owner Partner Managing Partner (generic) Managing Partner (law firm) General Counsel Executive Employee, Staff
or
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EDUCATION School Headmaster Chancellor University President Department Dean Professor Associate Professor Assistant Professor Teacher Instructor
GOVERNMENT Governor (of a state) Governor (of a province) Senator Congressperson Assemblyman/Assemblywoman* Mayor City Councilperson
* (unicameral governmental system)

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Professional Designations
The standard handling of professional designations in Korean is to put them in front of the name and in a smaller font. This is not a hard-andfast rule though and so you have a lot of flexibility in choosing where you want to place these. When suitable translations exist, they are best translated. However, many specialized fields have their own unique designations and if this is internationally recognized within the field, it often makes better sense to just leave it in English. However, a professional designation left in English and placed in front of the name does look a little unusual. The decision of where to put a professional designation gets even more confusing if someone has two, and one of them is translated and one not. To put one in front of the name and one after the name would be doubly unnatural. In fact, for this reason, it often makes best sense (and doesn't matter at all in terms of communicating meaningfully to the card recipient) to just place any and all professional designations after the name, as per Western style. Koreans often do this, too. Doctor, Ph.D. Master of Arts, Master of Science, etc. (MA, MS) Master of Business Administration (MBA) Bachelor of Arts, Bachelor of Science, etc. (BA, BS)
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It is fine to just list a generic degree as shown above; or even to leave the English abbreviation. However, preceding the designation with the field of the degree can add valuable information for the recipient of your business card. Thus an Ed.D. becomes or a Masters in Chemistry is translated as . Certified Public Accountant (CPA) Attorney, Lawyer, (Esq.) Professional Engineer (PE) Medical Doctor (MD) Registered Nurses (RN) Certified Financial Planner (CFP)

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MISCELLANEOUS Consultant Adviser Accountant Author, Writer Musician Judge Secretary Pastor, Minister (Rev.)
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Company Names
Some company names are better left in English, particularly those with initials, such as GE and IBM. In many cases, a company would just rather its name remain in English for the unified branding effects, too. However, I like translating company names when appropriate and I follow these rules when approaching the subject. If you determine that you will use a Korean translation of the name, find out first if your company already has a translation of its name in use. If such a translation exists, use it. Examples: Microsoft, Coca-Cola and Disney If your company's name does not have a pre-existing Korean translation, first try to translate according to meaning. Here are some examples of corporate names which are easily translatable. Examples: "Northern Financial Advisors", "American Tools" and "University of Texas" However, company names based on the name of their founders or other proper nouns often cannot be suitably translated and in this case, they should be transliterated phonetically. Examples: "Merkel", "Sharp", "Sylvester Stanton" Some company names can be a combination of translation and transliteration: Examples: "Stanton Tools", Reed Cosmetics"

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Company Forms
Translating company forms is difficult in Korean because the exact same company forms often do not exist between countries. For example, the governance structure of a corporation in Korea is somewhat different than in an American one, thus Representative Director is generally used to refer to the top person in a Korean corporation, whereas President or CEO is the top position in US companies. Still, both are stock-based and translating to the Korean version of corporation does not generally introduce significant problems. But since the company form in Korean is generally placed in parenthesis BEFORE the company name, it's necessary to move the company form to the front when translating a Western company form to Korean. On the other hand, if translating to a Korean company form raises red flags, then the best approach is to transliterate it phonetically. In the following examples, the Korean versions that are not in parenthesis are the transliterated names and in this case, they should be placed AFTER the company name, not before. English Company Incorporated, Corporation Limited Liability Corporation (LLC) Limited Liability Partnership (LLP) General Partnership Professional Corporation (PC) Partnership Korean (), , () () () () ()
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Addresses
When Koreans prepare their business card with English on one side and Korean on the other, they always have the address in English on the English side and Korean on the Korean; the post office in Korea will deliver the mail regardless of which language is used. But for non-Koreans, the question of whether or not to translate an English address to Korean is more difficult because a non-Korean address written in Korean characters is relatively meaningless. No post office in the world will deliver to a non-Korean address written in Korean characters. No harm is done on a business card though in translating a non-Korean address to Korean if the English side of your card already has the address written in English. In this case, having it in Korean on the Korean side can help Korean readers with the pronunciation of your address, as well as make the Korean side look more Korean. The following guidelines represent some best practices for translating a non-Korean address to Korean, but can be skipped if you choose to leave your address in English even on the Korean side of your card.
Addresses should be transliterated phonetically, not translated by
More information...
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For an extra technical discussion on translating English addresses into Korean for a business card or for mailing, visit the following post from my Nojeok Hill weblog: http://nojeokhill.koreanconsulting .com/2010/09/translatingaddresses-from-an-englishbusiness-card-into-korean.html
meaning. The only exception to this is the country, which should be translated as per the normal Korean translation.
After the name of the state and city, adding the Chinese character for
state () and city () is a nifty way of making it clear to the Korean reader which is the state and which is the city. I also think it looks classier and means you don't have to use a comma to separate the two.
order of the address should be adjusted to match the local The
address sequence in Asia meaning this order: country, state/province, city, street, house/office # and then finally postal code.
the Korean translation of your country to the Korean side of your Add
card and place it at the very beginning of the address. Example

English - Before 131 Baylor School Road Chattanooga, TN 37405 English - Showing Word Order After Translation to Korean USA Tennessee-State, Chattanooga-City Baylor School Road #131 (Zip) 37405
Korean 171 () 37405

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Phone/Fax/Email
The following are standard Korean translations for various contact methods. However, the latest trend on Korean cards is to almost always leave these in English on both the English and Korean sides. Frankly, to my eye, I'd rather one side be completely in English and one side completely in Korean on a double-sided card. However, using the initial shown in parenthesis or the full word in English are also perfectly fine approaches for the Korean side. I do recommend that at least on the Korean side of the card, you add the international country code for your country, preceded by the + symbol, so that callers from Korea will know how to dial you by phone or fax. Thus, my US phone number (972) 255-4808 becomes +1 (972) 255-4808 when incorporating the international calling code. Telephone, Tel, Phone (T, P) Direct telephone (D) Direct (D) Office telephone (O) Office (O) Home telephone (H) Home (H) Main, Main telephone (M) Ext., Extension (E) Fax (F) Cell, Mobile (C, M) Pager (P), Beeper (B) Toll-free phone Email, E-Mail (E) Website Internet Postal Code , , , (or if left English, Homepage) , (or just (), see address example above)
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Logos, Slogans and Tag Lines

Many logos are just pictures which can't be translated. But others are made up of words and generally they are left in English. This doesn't have to be the case though; translated logos can really add a nice flair to a Korean business card. The challenge here is having your designer work in a graphics program to recreate the English logo with Korean characters and this can be very hard, depending on the logo. Company slogans and tag lines and other similar text should usually be translated to match the meaning of the original English, especially when you consider that these slogans and tag lines are often a key device used for communicating what a company does. However, when the slogan/tag text is a marketing phrase with a double-meaning in English, you may need to call on a good translator to think through it and come up with something in Korean that, though not a literal translation, still communicates the desired meaning.
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Preparing the Logo Graphic Keep in mind when preparing your business card that just using a logo pulled off a webpage will generally not print well. Standard web resolution is 72dpi, but for adequate print quality, 200dpi is an absolute minimum; 300dpi is better.
[V] KOREAN BUSINESS CARD DESIGN CONSIDERATIONS

Designing a business card for Korea is an art, not a science. There are no hard-and-fast rules about how it must be done and nothing that says a non-Korean's card must be made to look like what a Korean designer would make. In fact, the most common and simplest approach to creating the Korean side for a business card is simply to use the exact same layout of the English card, but translated to Korean. However, there are more creative approaches which can be taken too. I, personally, don't even carry a two-sided business card where the front and back are identically formatted. Instead, I cram all of my information in English and (some) Korean onto one side so that the back is available for additional information. This is a common approach that Koreans take, though I get occasional comments that my business card looks too busy.
Here is how my colleague has prepared his card and you'll see that the front and back are the same design, but one is in English and one in Korean. Note that Jin-Ho has put his job title above his name, since he primarily uses this in Korea, and replaced some of the English logo with a Korean pronunciation of the first two words in the company name.
Korean business cards tend to place the logo at the top-left corner, or centered along the top; you'll find very few Korean business cards with the logo elsewhere. This doesn't mean your card has to do this too, though. Feel free to use as much creativity as you'd like on your Korean business card. A lot of Korean business cards do put both the English and Korean on the front and use the back for some other purpose, such as with my card. I see a lot of Korean cards with a map to the office on the back.

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[V] KOREAN BUSINESS CARD DESIGN CONSIDERATIONS
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[VI] GETTING KOREAN BUSINESS CARDS PRINTED

Easy Option - Have Us Prepare Your Korean Business Cards
Our service at Asian Language DTP has been helping business people profit in Korea for years. We do not merely translate your card - any translator can do that. Rather, we put our team of Korean experts to work for you to ensure that your card is linguistically and culturally right and design-relevant, so that you and your company will reap maximum benefits from them. Your full-color Korean business cards are designed in English on the front and Korean on the back and they are also quality-checked by way of a multi-point rigorous cultural adaptation and translation process that is unique to Asian Language DTP. .com to discover Visit Asian Language DTP at www.AsianLanguageDTP how premium business cards can make your business project in Korea, or with Koreans anywhere in the world, a smashing success.
Asian Language
DTP
Do-It-Yourself Option Prepare Your Own Korean Business Cards

This booklet is not primarily an advertisement for our business card services, though. You can save a lot of money by following the steps below to prepare your own Korean business cards.
A - DESIGN YOUR CARD IN ENGLISH

If you already have artwork for English business cards and if you're satisfied with the design and content, then all you have to do on this step is to find those files. Otherwise, hire someone to design your business card in English first. My designer, Catalin Soreanu, can be reached through the Korean Business Central site at this link: http://www.koreabusinesscentral.com/profile/CatalinSoreanu. He's a professional designer who does excellent work and you can pay for his services directly through PayPal.

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B - TRANSLATE AND DO LAYOUT OF YOUR CARD IN KOREAN

Work alongside a Korean associate while referring to the guidelines in Chapter IV of this Guide in order to prepare your translation into a Word file in Korean. Then send this to your designer and have him prepare the Korean version of your card. (Again, Catalin can do this for you.) You should ask your designer to send print-ready .pdf files back since that's what you'll need for the printer.
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C - GET CARDS PRINTED

PRINT IN KOREA AT A SHOP There are many print shops and stationery stores in Korea which handle business cards. If they don't do it in-house, they will subcontract your project to somewhere that does do the printing. Costs are so cheap that the convenience of taking your order to a local shop and letting them return your order in 1-2 days far outweighs the extra $3-4 you'd save by chasing down a place that actually does the printing in-house. Most Koreans get their cards done this way and if you simply walk in the door with your PDFs on a USB thumb drive, you'll be able to place your order immediately. PRINT IN KOREA ONLINE There are plenty of online business card sites in Korea. The one I got started with was www.eCard21.co.kr and the instructions below explain how to place an order for business cards within Korea. The following instructions are prepared so that almost anyone can order, even without being able to read or type in Korean. However, a small amount of Korean typing ability is necessary for entering the mailing address.
How I Ordered 200 English/Korean Double-Sided, Full-Color Business Cards in Korea for About $12, Including Two-Day Shipping 1. I had my designer Catalin Soreanu prepare a two-page PDF of my business card (dimensions: 92mm x 52mm) with one page in English and one in Korean. 2. I opened Internet Explorer because other browsers don't work well in Korea for e-commerce. 3. I went to www.ecard21.co.kr.
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4. I selected the following graphic that says (the actual graphic on the site may be changed later).
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If you want a Western-style thick card stock, under (product type), instead of (imported paper), choose (best imported paper). You can then choose (extra marshmallow) paper, which is much thicker than the standard thickness. It costs about double though.
5. I selected these options:
6. I then clicked this button:

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7. I filled in the next screen as follows (though when I got to the address section, I had to follow the sub-process shown below this graphic).
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7a. In the address lookup above, the following pop-up window appeared.
7b. I entered the "dong ()" in which I live and clicked "".

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7c. I got a list of choices.
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I clicked the one that corresponds to where I want the cards delivered and then returned to the main form to enter the rest of my address. 8. After finishing the large form above and clicking "", the following screen was shown to me:
9. I then sent the amount shown in the blue box above to the bank account shown in the red box. I was sure to send from the bank account owned by the person I indicated in the form previously (which was me). I did it online but I could have sent payment by visiting the bank.

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10. At any time I can check the status of my order by clicking "" on the home page:
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On the next screen, I need to click the "" tab to find my name in the list, along with the order status:

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PRINT OUTSIDE KOREA AT A SHOP Most FedEx Office (previously FedEx Kinko's) outlets offer a sameday printing service. If you have a bit more time, then any print shop just about anywhere can take your PDF files and print business cards for you. Be sure to clarify that you want double-sided cards; I once had a client take my files to their printer and get back two sets of one-sided cards; one set in Korean and one set in English!
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PRINT OUTSIDE KOREA ONLINE If you have a little extra time, www.Moo.com offers surprisingly economical and convenient international printing and delivery worldwide. There are plenty of other online printers out there, too.
PRINT ON THE PRINTER IN YOUR OFFICE I do not recommend that you print your cards on an office or home printer. Not only is every desktop printer different and getting the paper lined up properly can be prohibitively time-consuming from a file-prep standpoint, but the final output is not very good due to thin paper and low print quality. Also, cutting your cards straight is very difficult, if not impossible. If you're going to get Korean cards prepared for doing business in Korea, do it right and don't risk making a bad impression with home-made cards.

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[VII] IT NEVER HURTS TO GET A LITTLE CREATIVE

You won't offend anyone in Korea by thinking outside the box a bit; in fact, a creative business card approach can get you noticed. Here's what I did lately with my business cards when I started wanting to include more information on my card than would normally fit.

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[VII] IT NEVER HURTS TO GET A LITTLE CREATIVE

Second Edition All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or by any information storage system without written permission from the author, except for the inclusion of brief quotations in a review. Copyright 2011
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Published by:
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2534 Cheyenne St. Irving, TX 75062 Tel: +1 (972) 255-4808 Fax: +1 (214) 853-5374 Email: sbammel@koreanconsulting.com Website: www.koreanconsulting.com
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http://www.koreanconsulting.com
Asian Language DTP

http://www.asianlanguagedtp.com
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http://www.koreabusinesscentral.com
Nojeok Hill: My View from the Top (Steven S. Bammel's blog)

http://koreanconsulting.typepad.com/korean_business_perspecti/
Premium Korean Translation

http://www.koreanconsulting.com/translation_services.php
Korean Business Interpreting

http://www.koreanconsulting.com/korean_business_interpreting.php
Korean Business & Cultural Training

http://www.koreanconsulting.com/korean_corporate_training.php
Korean Business Consulting

http://www.koreanconsulting.com/korean_business_services.php
Asian-Language Business Cards

http://www.asianlanguagedtp.com
Visit Korea Business Network's webpage on Facebook

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The Definitive Guide to

Korean Consulting & Translation Service, Inc.

Business Cards in Korea

Korean Consulting & Translation Service, Inc.

Korea Business Central

GAFIC Advisor Korea FTA Industry Association, Committee Member

Succeed in Business in Korea by Networking and Learning

The Definitive Guide to

Business Cards in Korea

Korea Business Central

Korean Consulting & Translation Service, Inc.

The Definitive Guide to BUSINESS CARDS IN KOREA

The Definitive Guide to BUSINESS CARDS IN KOREA

Korean Consulting & Translation Service, Inc.

The Definitive Guide to BUSINESS CARDS IN KOREA

The Definitive Guide to BUSINESS CARDS IN KOREA

[II] AN AMAZING TESTIMONIAL

Korea Business Central

Korean Consulting & Translation Service, Inc.

The Definitive Guide to BUSINESS CARDS IN KOREA

[II] AN AMAZING TESTIMONIAL!

The Definitive Guide to BUSINESS CARDS IN KOREA

[III] KOREAN BUSINESS CARD ETIQUETTE

Greetings and Introductions

Korea Business Central

Korean Consulting & Translation Service, Inc.

The Definitive Guide to BUSINESS CARDS IN KOREA

[III] KOREAN BUSINESS CARD ETIQUETTE

Korean Names and Job Titles

Korea Business Central

Korean Consulting & Translation Service, Inc.

The Definitive Guide to BUSINESS CARDS IN KOREA

[III] KOREAN BUSINESS CARD ETIQUETTE

Business Card Exchanges

Korea Business Central

Korean Consulting & Translation Service, Inc.

The Definitive Guide to BUSINESS CARDS IN KOREA

[III] KOREAN BUSINESS CARD ETIQUETTE

Even Koreans Need to Learn about Business Card Etiquette!

When in the Presence of an Elder, Offer Your Business Card First

Korea Business Central

Korean Consulting & Translation Service, Inc.

The Definitive Guide to BUSINESS CARDS IN KOREA

[III] KOREAN BUSINESS CARD ETIQUETTE

The Definitive Guide to BUSINESS CARDS IN KOREA

[IV] TRANSLATING BUSINESS CARDS TO KOREAN

Korea Business Central

Korean Consulting & Translation Service, Inc.

The Definitive Guide to BUSINESS CARDS IN KOREA

[IV] TRANSLATING BUSINESS CARDS TO KOREAN

Korea Business Central

Korean Consulting & Translation Service, Inc.

The Definitive Guide to BUSINESS CARDS IN KOREA

[IV] TRANSLATING BUSINESS CARDS TO KOREAN

Korea Business Central

Korean Consulting & Translation Service, Inc.

The Definitive Guide to BUSINESS CARDS IN KOREA

[IV] TRANSLATING BUSINESS CARDS TO KOREAN

Korea Business Central

Korean Consulting & Translation Service, Inc.

The Definitive Guide to BUSINESS CARDS IN KOREA